Went to bed at 10...Had "blindfold" and earplugs in and I think they worked, but still didn't fall asleep for a while.
Set the alarm for 3:30...got up at 2 on my own and had a PowerBar recovery drink (I had tested this for tolerance several times) Went back to sleep. Slept!
Got up at 3:30. Had two hardboiled eggs, a little bread, some organic oatmeal, a cup of cereal-based coffee substitute. Got my stuff together (I had forgotten to put my socks and towel in my swim to bike transition bag). We drove to the site at 4:45 (opened at 5) and got exceptional parking right near the start/finish.

Event warmup:

Went to the bathroom a whole bunch of times really early - good thing, because the lineups were soon 30 minutes long.
Walked around, then sat under a tree with my Ipod. Focused.
Tires were pumped from the day before. But borrowed someones pump and put in a few more PSI 118 total. Worked well.

Had a powerbar, 30 minutes before start. Hung out a bit with Trudy's Jennifer. Avoided most people...too much nervous energy in the air.
Helped John zip up.
Swam about 150m. Played with my goggles. They took a little while to adjust properly. Glad I did. The fit was flawless, until I got smacked in the head...but even then, they didn't leak.
Didn't do any other warming up.

Swim

1h 31m 56s

3800 meters

02m 25s / 100 meters

Comments:

I was really looking forward to this swim with a nervous, but giddy, apprehension.
Lined myself up as far left of the course as I could, there were about 50 people left of me. I was surprised there were quite a few people - at least 100 ahead of the start banner/rope. The officials didn't seem to mind.
I stepped very carefully, one guy beside me cut his foot on some glass.
The Canon went off and I waded and then started to swim.
Lots of room at parts, other parts were a little crowded. But I made my space and was always comfortable. I found some good drafting, but I need work on that. I had to sprint (hard kick) away from some annoying people who didn't seem to mind swimming on top of me. I tired out on those sprints, but I never got breathless. Always comfortable.
Man that is a long distance.
I breast stroked a couple of times for 10 seconds to get a good look at where I was aiming for...I could not imagine doing this without contacts/glasses - the targets (houseboats) were so far away!

Did I mention this was a long swim!!

with about 500m to go - on the way back - some guy punched me in the face. That jammed the goggle into my eye socket so I couldn't relax my eye...and I didn't want to risk adjusting it. But it never leaked! I bought two more sets of the exact same Blue Seventy Goggle at the Expo, by the way.

Drafting could have been better, but I couldn't find many people to follow who were going in a straight line...

My tangent (from the left) added about 100 or so extra metres.

I caught myself muscling or windmilling at a high cadence. And I just relaxed and lengthened my stroke and that made all the difference.

I was expecting to swim a 1:40, so this is a nice surprise.

Got out of the water strong. Saw FW. Hugged her from over the fence.

What would you do differently?:

Swim faster...train to swim faster over a longer distance.

Try to find a straighter, shorter line for around the course.

Draft better and practise it.

Longer stroke.

Transition 1

08m 26s

Comments:

Wetsuit stripping...First time I've ever done this. Went well.
Got my bag, found the tent. Had a seat took my time, but acted deliberately. Didn't waste any time. Used the bathroom. Grabbed my bike and ran to the mount line (shoes on) We could not leave shoes or helmet on bike.

What would you do differently?:

A little faster, but otherwise, this was a good transition. I didn't make any mistakes.

Bike

6h 59m

180 kms

25.78 km/hr

Comments:

This was hard. I thought I was ready, but I wasn't.
Within 20k my quads locked up with cramps...It was hot, but I don't know why. First hill I had a really tough time...and this was a small hill...Then I realized I was in the big chain ring!
Lots of people had compact cranks and triple chain rings!
I passed at least 300 people on this ride, but got passed by plenty on the uphills. I was competent on them, but not fast. Never thought I wouldn't make it, it was just hard.

I made up for my slow ascents with screaming descents...I hit 80.1k/hr. I had a blast there!

Two crashes!

First one at a water station, focused on getting a bottle and a volunteer on an ATV (who wasn't looking) backed up into me. This was during an uphill stretch...I fell over in soft sand. No damange, but I had trouble getting started.

Second real crash...same situation, flat water station. Cyclist plowed into me from behind and she knocked me down. I got a big bruise on my elbow, that made the aerobars a little hard to stay in and three pretty scary scrapes that kept bleeding until the run.

As strange as this sounds, The crash helped shake me back from a very sluggish time...I was near bonk for a while and the adrenaline gave me more juice to go on.

I had a good strong finish...The hills surprised me, not by their elevation, but by how long they were.

This was hard. But I made the time that I thought I would. I wanted a higher pace, but this one was good too.

Feet really started to hurt underneath and a bit on top (pre-race injury spot) near the end, but I put it out of my mind.

My initial quad cramps came back with a vengeance and I couldn't stretch them out and then my calves started to seize up on the hills. I dared not stop or try to stretch them too much, because I was worried I wouldn't be able to get started again!

Overnight it rained and my aerobottle splashed into my bento box and soakd my e-load and open Powerbars. I had two Advils in that unzipped ziplock bag...Advil "schtuff" got all over the more resiliant e-load pills

Nutrition:
Aerobottle water refills 8
3.5 bottles high concentrate Glycocarb
4 Powerbars
3 gels
2 eload pills every 30 to 60 minutes. (lost track of how many I had - some were mush).

I wasn't entirely happy with the Glyco. I think I carried too much and I never got that "zoom" that I got at my HIMs.

Two pee breaks.

I think I had a pretty good ride. Plenty of people had much better rides than me. More training!

What would you do differently?:

Train more on hills. Train more in the appropriate altitude.
Be a little more vigilant in the water stations and avoid the front and middles of them.

Try to up the cadence and build more power for getting me through the rollers more easily.

Work out a dryer pill system.

Give some serious thought about my nutrition plan

Transition 2

08m 22s

Comments:

Another deliberate transition. Sat down and did my schtick. Took me time to find my mini glide container. Wasted about a minute on that.
Quick bathroom break and I was off.

What would you do differently?:

A little quicker. Otherwise very smooth. Not familiar with the whole transition bag thing...next time will be better.
Wasn't really in that much of a rush.

Run

5h 31m 18s

42.2 kms

07m 51s min/km

Comments:

First half (19k) were strong 2 hrs. I walked through the aid stations and ran everything else...then I started to break down.
My cramping returned so I had to shorten my stride. I started walking the uphills and running all the downhills. I speed walked quite a lot - more than I wanted to, but I passed a lot of other runners while walking!

I think I succumbed to my brain telling me I should walk. Rookie mistake.

It wasn't a hard run...my first marathon...it was just long. It never seemed to end. At one point, as we did the perimeter of the hill, you could see for miles of road and knew that you were nowhere near town.

But I just kept moving forward.
When I couldn't run I race walked. I never shuffled. I was always strong.

The last 10 miles were tough...but it just tough mentally, my body reached a state where it did what my mind told it...other than the constant cramps I pushed through. Always going forward.

John caught up to me at the last 5k mark. I kept up with him for half a block, but he was a man possessed and dropped me like a bad date.

This was the hardest thing I've ever done and I can't wait to do it again.

Nutrition:
here I had some issues. I think nutrition and hydration was right on, but in the last 10 miles, I kept feeling thirsty and nothing seemed to help slake that thirst...this is probably where I lost my energy.

First 19k Gel flask/4gels, Water.

Then (in the rain and as I started to feel hypothermic) started with chicken soup (total of 3 cups), water, and pepsi.
two additional gels.
eLoad and one advil when my banged up knee and elbow started to hurt.

I think I just didn't have enough water on the bike.
Peed twice.

What would you do differently?:

More long course training and training on hills. If it were hot, I would have had a lot more trouble.
Walk less. This felt like my first half marathon...I didn't have the mental toughness to cross through and just do it.

As with the bike, work with my nutrition/hydration.

Post race

Warm down:

Caught by First Wife and she escorted me to photos, a really lame massage (volunteers with no experience) pizza with all the meat toppings taken out and lots of Power Recovery.
It was still raining and I was cold. We went back home and after a quick shower and quickly crashed.
Should have stretched. I never feel like stretching after a race.

A whole bunch of hugging and socializing with other finishers.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of hill climbing and altitude acclimatization.
Need more FAST bike and run distance work.

Mental toughness that I've conquered for the HIM, but I need work here.

Everything else went according to plan..and the only way I could have gone faster was to go faster.

Event comments:

This is the hardest thing I've ever done and that was before the race even started.

I didn't know what to expect and I was still surprised. I had a plan. And as I expected the plan was tested at every corner and I responded and adjusted.

I did this on my own terms and surpassed my expectations.

First Wife was volunteer catching and her shift ended at 14 hrs 30 (9:30pm). She joked that I had to be in before her shift ended. I was expecting to be in at 15 hours. When I got onto main street with less that 1.5 k and saw that I was at 14:04...I kicked it into gear. I had it in me and I sprinted through the finish into FW's arms.
That sprint tells me that I didn't leave everything on the course...

Next year! Yes next year. I've grown through this (and shrunk plenty too!)

This was the best experience (including everything leading up to it) after the arrival of first and second borns.

Yup...for the first time in my life I can say. I am an Ironman.

Last updated: 2007-08-31 12:00 AM

Swimming

01:31:56
|
3800 meters |
02m 25s / 100meters

Age Group:

268/291

Overall:

1898/2211

Performance:

Good

HR was relaxed...about 85 before canon went off. Guy beside me, a 3 race veteran was at 120!

Suit:

Course:

Clockwise around triangular course with buoys and houseboats.
Lake Okanagan. Sandy beach (some rocks) Very clear water, took a while to get deep then got really deep. Some Scuba Divers at the bottom of the lake near houseboats. Second houseboat moved with the current and confused the hell out of my sighting.

Start type:

Wade

Plus:

Shot

Water temp:

0F / 0C

Current:

Low

200M Perf.

Average

Remainder:

Good

Breathing:

Good

Drafting:

Average

Waves:

Navigation:

Good

Rounding:

Good

T1

Time:

08:26

Performance:

Good

Cap removal:

Good

Helmet on/
Suit off:

Yes

Wetsuit stuck?

Run with bike:

Yes

Jump on bike:

No

Getting up to speed:

Biking

06:59:00
|
180 kms |
25.78 km/hr

Age Group:

249/291

Overall:

1578/2211

Performance:

Average

My bike computer has my pace at 26.1 I was aiming for 27.
HR never got about 145.

Wind:

Some

Course:

Penticton IMC course with two Mountain's and rollers. This was a lot tougher than I expected.
Strong winds (headwinds) in places that was a challege, but not unfamiliar to me and my prairie training.
Crowded in places, especially on hills...but what do you expect when there are over 2300 people racing beside rushing traffic.

Road:

Smooth Dry

Cadence:

80

Turns:

Good

Cornering:

Good

Gear changes:

Good

Hills:

Average

Race pace:

Hard

Drinks:

Just right

T2

Time:

08:22

Overall:

Good

Riding w/ feet on shoes

Jumping off bike

Running with bike

Good

Racking bike

Good

Shoe and helmet removal

Good

Running

05:31:18
|
42.2 kms |
07m 51s min/km

Age Group:

235/291

Overall:

1602/2211

Performance:

Below average

150 hr max

Course:

Far more hills than I expected. Aid stations at every mile.
Incredible volunteers and spectators. Beautiful course.
Rained and was cool.

Thanks for taking us through your day. I enjoyed watching your training progress through the year leading up to this, and it was great to see you have such a positive race resulting from all that hard work.

Be kind to your mind - I think you exhibited excellent mental toughness through the event - especially getting back on the bike after being knocked off... twice!

Before next time, go visit a sport nutritionist. I know many Ironman finishers who say this was the best investment they made.

And a big cheer to FW who supported you all year and caught you at the end. We are fortunate to have such a supportive partners and family in our lives.

Congratulations Ironman!!! Awesome to see you accomplish this goal and watching you prepare for it with amazing discipline and determination was a pleasure for the last few months. I have learned a lot and got inspired a lot.

Sounds like it was a very challenging course, but somehow you pushed through the cramps and crashes. Way to go! Thank you for the inspirational race report. And you wanna do it again? This shows the stuff you're made of!!!

Great effort out there! Never say die spirit! If you're not bleeding, you didn't try hard enough The fact that you sprinted the finish doesn't mean you didn't leave it all out there...it just means that you are as nuts as the rest of us! Congrats Ironman!!!! Great race.

I'm not sure what to say... I am completely speechless. You sir are an inspiration.

Your attitude, your flexibility, your dedication and the support of your loved ones have gotten you through yet again. I know you had your doubts about finishing... I for one didn't. I knew you were going to finish and you would surprise yourself. Thank you for proving me right.

you did an awesome job out there! can't wait to see your results next year as well. you are an IRONMAN! you're a strong man...strong sports discipline and a strong heart! great race, be proud & i might be there to cheer you on next year! SOLID!